Good Samaritan helps wandering child get back to school

A woman happened to be in the right place at the right time since she was able to help a wandering child get back to school. She sprang into action and helped a little boy get back to Hancock Creek Elementary in North Fort Myers.

The woman says the boy looked terrified and began to cry when she found him. Once she realized he was alone and so close to the road, she started shaking.

Codi Tabbita says she doesn’t usually drive by that area. But, because she had to go to a doctor’s appointment, she took Skyline Drive. That’s where she saw a young boy, 6 years old, all alone.

“I saw him by this second palm [tree] over here…” Tabbita said. “Just a four or five-year-old by himself… there was nobody around him.”

“Especially at that time, you know, if they’re walking around with a teacher, we would see more kids, another adult… but nobody,” Tabbita said.

She believes she was in the right place at the right time to help the little boy and get him back to school. “What if it happens again? Who’s going to be there?” Tabbita wondered.

She also wanted to know what the school would’ve told the child’s mother if she hadn’t found him. “I can’t imagine the mother just finding out and, you know, ‘what happened to my boy during school hours?'” said Tabbita.

On Monday of this week, a similar situation happened in Lehigh Acres. A three-year-old girl walked out of her daycare and onto a busy roadway.  A good Samaritan saved that girl’s life as well.

Miguel Burgos lives in Lehigh Acres and found the little girl. “What are they going to say to parents? ‘Your daughter died.’ ‘How’d she die?’ ‘Crossing the street when she was supposed to be in care… taking care of her,'” Burgos said.

There is hope that the district will review school security policies so this will not continue to happen. “We trust them so much, you know, we trust teachers, the school system to keep them safe, and then they can just walk out,” said Tabbita.

The School District of Lee County has not said how the child may have escaped from school without anyone noticing where he was. The district says it is aware of the incident and is investigating how it could’ve happened.